“Aren’t you afraid that the sponsors will try to influence your program?” is a common question in the arts sections of various newspapers, especially since we have been so successful in acquiring sponsors. And I can always answer both spontaneously and honestly: No, I am not afraid of that. Our sponsors are far too intelligent not to know that trying to influence the content of our program would have a boomerang effect. On the contrary, I hope our sponsors continue to influence us, in the sense that they make it possible to implement projects that we could not realize otherwise for lack of money. Therefore, on behalf of the Festival, I would very much like to thank our sponsors, donors, supporters and friends as well as the public authorities subsidizing the Festival for their generous support.